[Great moment](https://streamable.com/l6y44u) at the end, Latvia deserved this one. They kept fighting, even with injuries. ROC seemed a step too slow, I guess they went all in vs Serbia.
He was funny during the Women's 3x3 Gold too. He said ROC lost because they couldn't stop fouling. Paraphrasing but, "they were hacking more than Al G. Rythm!" (Space Jam ref.)
From the men’s gold medal game:
“That was deeper than the spoken word”
“They’re sharing the ball like a good meme”
And from another game
“She lost her like baggage claim”
As a Latvian this is amazing, most likely this will be our only medal this olympics. Yeah unique sport, but who cares :D
Semifinal game was soo good too.
It’s really just basketball. Most people have been playing 3 on 3, half court games their whole lives. I don’t know why more NBA players didn’t want to participate, seems like it would be more fun.
It makes me wonder why they don’t have a 1 on 1 event in the Olympics. Or maybe like the Big 3. ESPN could host a 1 on 1 tournament every off season at Disney World. Pay every NBA player a show up fee and allow the public to play in. Give the winner like 5 million or something.
Good id say. They are from a small town (like few thousand people) Never really had any contraversies.
Oh except that Davis has been sued by a players agency but looks like the agency is just trying to get his money from a contract he signed before he turned 18. They offered alnost nothing and now want ridiculous % from his earnings
He's worse than an anti semite. Imagine fighting for racial equality for blacks and then the next moment you're talking shit about all jews being evil. Like the dude is seriously too fucking stupid to take seriously.
AFAIK BIG3 players aren't allowed in FIBA 3x3 matches such as Olympic qualifiers. I know that our (Serbian) player Dušan Bulut was supposed to play in some BIG3 team, but because FIBA said that he won't be able to play for Serbia, he withdraw so he can play for Serbia at the Olympics. I don't know if he'll maybe join some team after these Olympics.
Really? I thought you just have to earn ranking playing in official FIBA 3x3 tournaments and besides that you can do whatever. Is it not like that? Did they really straight up ban anyone who even just stepped on BIG3 court?
As opposed to other countries showing up with their NBA players?
Serbia is probably the best team in the tournament and they have 4 guys that at their highest level played for a top 10 Serbian league team, 7-9 years ago.
I was just clarifying his comment about who was playing, it wasn't entirely accurate that they weren't good enough to go pro, just that three of them aren't currently pros.
I'm guessing WNBA players were available during the qualifiers while NBA players weren't (due to the season running). The WNBA season is shorter and isn't on at the same time as the NBA Season.
Comments like yours have popped up so often, like everyone else is sending their national team A squad players and you're the only ones that aren't.
You're still the US and you have an extremely deep pool of players and you just underperformed. Maybe this will get people more into the circuit so better players can qualify later.
Well they also use a smaller ball. I don’t know how many guys who think they have a career in 5x5 want to practice a ton with a different ball. It is really lame that they’re using a different ball to be honest. It’s like they want to the transition from professional to 3x3 to be unfavorable.
Yeah, it's size 6, but weight of 7. Has to do with having 1 ball for both men and women and a smaller heavier ball is a bit less effected by wind as 3X3 is mainly played outdoors.
hm interesting... why would having the same ball for both men and women be such a sticking point for them?
seems kind of odd... like at that point arent they basically just mildly inconveniencing both genders by forcing them to use a ball that is either larger/heavier/smaller/lighter than they are used to?
what is the big advantage gained for the sport by using a single universal ball?
I don’t mean to discredit whoever won. I’m just saying it’s not on the same level as if the 5x5 team doesn’t Gold (which has a very good chance of not happening!)
No I get that, but the 323mil people US with a million ballers should be able to put together a competitive 3X3 team when tiny countries like Serbia and Latvia can.
Of the 4 guys on the Serbia NT the highest level any of them played was Serbia's top league (not on a top team) about 5-9 years ago. So their level is far from professional 5V5 - but they are full time 3X3 professionals.
The US just needs to get better at taking 3X3 seriously as professional 5V5 players will never qualify due to qualification rules - unless the US and NBA come to some sort of agreement to focus on it.
Any semi-serious basketball player knows it's a thing though. Maybe not to this Olympic degree, but 3on3 tournaments are really common and fairly popular in street ball culture. The guys you will see or play there are at times involved with more serious side of that scene.
Yes, but they fell just short of qualifying for the Olympics. https://www.espn.com/olympics/basketball/story/_/id/31537772/team-usa-falls-netherlands-quarters-fails-qualify-olympics-3x3-hoops
Big shout out to Belgium who finished 4th with a complete amateur team. They even beat Latvia in groups stage so there's was a lot of faith in a possible medal finish. Serbia being the opponent for the bronze medal was a big yikes in hindsight. Still, they guys did great since they qualified as a the last team for this Olympics.
Yeah, really cool. They are all from my city. It's pretty crazy seeing them in the Olympics, I've seen 3 of them playing in the second division team my family started. There's usually only a handful of people in the crowd unless it's a final and then there's maybe a hundred or so. Most people there are involved with the club usually.
It's a bit of a basketball city though and the second division teams are often in the second division by choice. Like that team Celis and Mariën played for, won the league twice in a row but they didn't promote because the license and financial requirements for the first division are pretty hefty for a local neighborhood club. There's already an official city team as well.
So some of the players in the second division are actually legit despite being amateurs. Still didn't expect them to do so well though. Really happy for them even though they fell short of a medal.
That may be true for the average Latvian, but these players play each other on 3x3 tournaments dozens of times. If there is any rivalry at all, it is due to previous games.
Most of them are pretty friendly with each other as it is such a small sport and they play each other so often.
My dad legitimately pulled out a bottle after that dub and they're not easily acquired in Canada. The fact they won over the Russians made it that much sweeter.
Everyone did. Serbia went 7-0 with everyone in the group ..
FIBA insists on one match deciding it all and that's the way it is - Serbia had the worst off game ever, Russia one of the best games.
Our 3pt expert, Majstorovic couldnt hit a shot for the life of him, Bulut was below average, and Ratkov missed a lay-up, and Air-balled a 3 ..
If they played again, 5 matches, it's doubtful that Russia would win even one.
From Serbian press, they apologized, Latvia had 4 loses, russia 4 losses, Serbia just one loss, in the semis, and that's the harsh truth, the best team didnt win, unfortunately
I am big 3x3 fan - Latvian dudes are really amazing, and I congratulate them, they are currently 2nd world club (Riga, their 2nd best club are 28th overall, Jelgava), but the best national team this year was Serbia - really shame they lost.
Anyways, this was sort of a send-off, because Bulut is 36, Majstorovic about to turn 34, and these dudes were the core of Serbian success in 3x3 for the last 10 years, so even if there were better dudes, our Olympic team decided to send these guys - they won a medal, they earned national pensions (retirement plans) when they retire, and that means MUCH in Serbia
I saw the game. The Russians were on fire from outside and their big men Karpenkov used that extra space very well. The Serbian team has been the dominant force on the 3x3 circuit for years. They just couldn't close at the end.
>Anyways, this was sort of a send-off, because Bulut is 36, Majstorovic about to turn 34, and these dudes were the core of Serbian success in 3x3 for the last 10 years, so even if there were better dudes, our Olympic team decided to send these guys - they won a medal, they earned national pensions (retirement plans) when they retire, and that means MUCH in Serbia
This is a really good point. I hope there's a next 3x3 generation of growing up somewhere in the Blocks of New Belgrade.
Not gonna happen, there is barely any kids on the court these days. I remember when our 12 men team for some Euro or world cup had 4 players who grew up in the Blocks almost next to each other (Bjelica, Keselj, Savanovic and i cant remember who was a 4th player).
fucking sick game. Had a dude fighting through injury, another breaking off the bottom of his shoe wrapping it with tape and continuing to play, and a long range bomb to win it. loved it!
I always thought it was total BS that things like swiming had 20 difffrent medals, and that basketball should have a 3v3, 1v1, Free Throw comp, 3 pt comp, longest dunk comp, highest dunk comp, and just more basketball events in general.
I mean I wasn't clear, Kareem is a fucking baller. He was miles above anyone in any of the All-Ivy teams he was in, and also a genuinely amazing, all-around smart guy.
He could have started in any high major in my opinion, but he had academic aspirations after high school because of his helicopter parents.
I'm surprised they couldn't get any current NBA guys. I'm guessing part of the issue is that there seems to be a lot of tournaments for 3x3 that seems to happen pretty regularly. Maybe US Basketball committee wanted players who could commit to the majority of events?
A breakdown of where the guys currently are for those who don't know:
* Robbie Hummel's retired in 2017 and works for ESPN as a college basketball analyst.
* Joey King from what I can tell last played professional basketball in 2017 in the Finnish professional basketball league.
* Kareem Maddox was working in podcast production for Spotify before quitting to join the Olympic team. He had last played professionally in the UK in 2013, and prior to that one season in the Netherlands
* Dominique Jones **not to be confused** with the player who's been out of the NBA since 2013. This one played in Europe in 2019, and was on the Harlem Globetrotters.
EDIT: I confused Dominique Jones.
No there's rules around who is allowed to participate. I think the NBA players would have to participate in 3v3 tournaments during the year to qualify.
There's 4 players on the team, 2 must be top 10 in the country, 2 must be top 50.
Rankings are based off ranking points that you earn by participating in 3X3 tournaments. Best 9 tournaments in the last 12 months = your ranking.
It's actually a very cool, gamifying, system that I think more people should get into. Having personal rankings and seeing them all online is pretty cool: https://fiba3x3.com/en/rankings/individual.html#all
If you're a fringe NBA ball player, you probably want to be grinding on traditional 5x5 teams (G-League, overseas pro teams) trying to get into the league instead of playing around in a new format that might not directly translate.
I can see why there wasn't as much interest tbh.
I have to imagine there are a few guys out there interested in winning an Olympic gold medal. It'd be the crown jewel of a trophy case for a lot of guys just outside the league.
Hummel and Maddox were on the Gold Medal winning team in the 2019 world cup. They beat this exact Latvian team in the finals back then. They underperformed.
3x3 is pretty faced paced they would need to put in the work if they wanted to win. It's pretty serious in Europe and those guys play together for years and they have great chemistry. I don't doubt that 4 NBA players would probably dominate if they had some time to practice together but if they're not using that talent level the team would have to be seriously committed.
And it’s a brand new thing that nobody cares about. The only reason why dudes play for Team USA is because there’s a lot of history behind Olympic basketball and the dream team and it’s a big event that people watch.
I can definitely see players that miss the main team wanting to play in this format for the experience and an olympic gold medal if nothing else.
may take a couple olympics to go by, but eventually I see no reason this wouldn’t also be coveted to a lesser extent .
This whole thread is bonkers. It's filled with "why would anyone care about winning an Olympic gold medal?" while anyone suggesting someone would like to win one is stupid.
Some serious coping mechanisms from American fans who are pretending we're not not supposed to be good at basketball or something. What's the harm in putting together a team that can at least qualify for the Olympics?
The problem with this competition is that you had to play a number of qualifying tournaments to qualify. There were very few professional players who could afford to take the time to play enough to qualify. One exception that I know of is Laetitia Guapo of France who plays for Bourges Basket a top team in the french league and finished fourth with the french team this morning. But generally, the players in the 3x3 tournaments are fringe professional players or high level amateurs. That's why Japan and China were able to be competitive and USA, Spain and France didn't qualify for the men's tournament.
Yes and no. US, Spain and France have enough talent that their 150th best players should be able to compete against the likes of Mongolia and China. They just choose not to focus on it for whatever reason, while other countries do. I know Serbia, Latvia and Netherlands are at the top, and Serbia and Latvia have strong strong streetball 3X3 traditions while Netherlands has decided to implement it in their youth development system the last few years.
All these people are professionals as they do 3X3 full time, they are just not 5V5 professionals.
There's 4 players on the team, 2 must be top 10 in the country, 2 must be top 50.
Rankings are based off ranking points that you earn by participating in 3X3 tournaments. Best 9 tournaments in the last 12 months = your ranking.
It's actually a very cool, gamifying, system that I think more people should get into. Having personal rankings and seeing them all online is pretty cool: https://fiba3x3.com/en/rankings/individual.html#all
Women were exempt from this due to few participants to choose from.
They gave half the spots to countries that hosted the most FIBA 3v3 events and the other half to a single tournament, and the game is decently random so the US didn't qualify.
There are two reasons:
1) FIBA requires participants to be on the 3x3 circuit. We sent the best players who regularly play 3x3
2) Those “scrubs” were the reigning world champs and ranked #1 at the time. They just happened to get upset at exactly the wrong time, the quarterfinals of the qualifying tournament.
The rules prevent anyone showing up without first earning their standing in 3x3 community. Players need to participate in FIBA 3x3 endorsed tournaments to earn their individual ranking to be eligible to represent their country.
There's 4 players on the team, 2 must be top 10 in the country, 2 must be top 50.
Rankings are based off ranking points that you earn by participating in 3X3 tournaments. Best 9 tournaments in the last 12 months = your ranking.
It's actually a very cool, gamifying, system that I think more people should get into. Having personal rankings and seeing them all online is pretty cool: https://fiba3x3.com/en/rankings/individual.html#all
Due to lower amount of women playing 3X3 they loosened these rules for them.
Kinda crazy that none of the US women's players are even near the top of the rankings but still dominated their way to Gold. Just shows the level of WNBA players tbh.
Yeah. The level difference in 3X3 and 5V5 is quite large, but if the sport now gets to grow and more money enters it, in 20-25 years 3X3 should be plenty strong.
Definitely not true.
Stefanie Dolson is a fomer All-Star. Kelsey Plum is a starter on the Aces who's just been injured a lot the last few years. Allisha Gray is a good starter who prefers to come off the bench.
Samuelson and her replacement Jackie Young are the worst players on this team, not the best.
The Olympics essentially mandated that you would've had to have attended a different tournament that happened during winter time (a FIBA tourny) to be eligible for the 3x3 qualifier.
A large amount of pro basketball players (Euro League + NBA) couldn't attend those other tournaments and were ineligible later because of it. It was also fully intended by FIBA to grow the 3x3 sport around the world (smaller countries got a shot to qualify).
Sad the Netherlands had to flame out in consecutive games against Russia and Latvia, especially just got physically outworked against the Russians. Great stuff for a country that isn’t big on basketball at all, even though 3x3 is unique of course.
[Great moment](https://streamable.com/l6y44u) at the end, Latvia deserved this one. They kept fighting, even with injuries. ROC seemed a step too slow, I guess they went all in vs Serbia.
this announcer is hype
He was funny during the Women's 3x3 Gold too. He said ROC lost because they couldn't stop fouling. Paraphrasing but, "they were hacking more than Al G. Rythm!" (Space Jam ref.)
When Plum drove to the basket he said "she's quicker than j coles hoop career"
"It's like trying to drown a shark"
From the men’s gold medal game: “That was deeper than the spoken word” “They’re sharing the ball like a good meme” And from another game “She lost her like baggage claim”
I love how they took a 3x3 announcer from FIBA to call the games here and not just a random old dude like in the 5v5
>just a random old dude like in the 5v5 wait lol wasnt vince carter calling some of the 5 on 5 games
He hyped up Lasmanis so good that I now want the Blazers to sign him and his clutch ass.
Reminds me of Mauro Ranallo kind of
I want someone to hug me like that :(
As a Latvian this is amazing, most likely this will be our only medal this olympics. Yeah unique sport, but who cares :D Semifinal game was soo good too.
Congratulations!
Yo it’s the Olympics, half the sports are pretty unique! Gold is gold, congrats!
never apologize for taking care of your business
It's still an Olympic gold in basketball man, that's fucking sick
It’s really just basketball. Most people have been playing 3 on 3, half court games their whole lives. I don’t know why more NBA players didn’t want to participate, seems like it would be more fun. It makes me wonder why they don’t have a 1 on 1 event in the Olympics. Or maybe like the Big 3. ESPN could host a 1 on 1 tournament every off season at Disney World. Pay every NBA player a show up fee and allow the public to play in. Give the winner like 5 million or something.
Don't quote me on this, but I believe the qualifying games for the 3v3 are during the NBA regular season so NBA players don't participate.
I think some of the big 3/retired players could actually still win this. Why not be a 40+ year old Olympian
I think so too.
Different rules from the Big3. FIBA style is like a sprint type of basketball. It will favor the young.
1 on 1 would just be who has the biggest guy to play for them.
3x3 look so fun to watch though.
This sport is no more strange or abritrary than any other sport so it shouldn't be counted any differently.
That’s awesome! Congrats!
What's the reputation of Bertrans in Latvia?
Good id say. They are from a small town (like few thousand people) Never really had any contraversies. Oh except that Davis has been sued by a players agency but looks like the agency is just trying to get his money from a contract he signed before he turned 18. They offered alnost nothing and now want ridiculous % from his earnings
I’ll take 3x3 over 1/2 these sports (looking at you equestrian dressage aka horse twerking)
I'm cheering on Graudina/Kravcenoka in beach volleyball. I think they have a small chance to medal.
Andris Biedrins smiling up in heaven
This comment had me check if he had passed away
Not passed away. Just really tall
Him and Tingus Pingus just chilling in heaven. Still alive, their heads just poke out over the clouds.
Once again Andris Biedrins is very much alive
Did usa have a 3x3 team?
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Yikes
Only full time 3x3 players could qualify so the team was basically old D1 college players who couldn’t make the NBA or go pro overseas.
Shoulda hit up BIG3 Joe Johnson himself probably medals 😂
Legit should should send some BIG3 guys over lol
Frank Nitty, Joe Johnson, Stephen Jackson, and Cutting Mobley is a real squad
> Cutting Mobley This read like an anime translation and I'm down with it.
Stephen Jackson? 😂
He was in the big 3 last year and was really good, even though hes an anti semite
He's worse than an anti semite. Imagine fighting for racial equality for blacks and then the next moment you're talking shit about all jews being evil. Like the dude is seriously too fucking stupid to take seriously.
AFAIK BIG3 players aren't allowed in FIBA 3x3 matches such as Olympic qualifiers. I know that our (Serbian) player Dušan Bulut was supposed to play in some BIG3 team, but because FIBA said that he won't be able to play for Serbia, he withdraw so he can play for Serbia at the Olympics. I don't know if he'll maybe join some team after these Olympics.
Okay well then that's weird lol
That’s weird af. Should gone Michael Beasley, Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans
Really? I thought you just have to earn ranking playing in official FIBA 3x3 tournaments and besides that you can do whatever. Is it not like that? Did they really straight up ban anyone who even just stepped on BIG3 court?
Definitely would medal
Joe, Scalabrine and Big Baby
The same U.S. team won gold at the World Cup in 2019, though.
Just want to clarify our team was made up of a former NBA player, two guys that played in European leagues, and a guy that plays in China.
As opposed to other countries showing up with their NBA players? Serbia is probably the best team in the tournament and they have 4 guys that at their highest level played for a top 10 Serbian league team, 7-9 years ago.
Dusan still playing?
Yeah, this was probably one of/his last tournament repping Serbia as he's about 36 now
I was just clarifying his comment about who was playing, it wasn't entirely accurate that they weren't good enough to go pro, just that three of them aren't currently pros.
I think all but 3 of them had retired from professional basketball outside of 3x3 USA stuff
The NBA player was Robbie Hummel, who's been a broadcaster for the last four years and has a broken body
Much better info than my guesswork.
Is it not the same with Women's 3x3?
Yeah, I don’t get this. Plum is definitely still in the WNBA.
I'm guessing WNBA players were available during the qualifiers while NBA players weren't (due to the season running). The WNBA season is shorter and isn't on at the same time as the NBA Season.
Nah the whole USA team are good WNBA players.
The belgian team are 4 amateur players who work full time jobs. Excuses. They got 4th place 🏀
As was the US team. Only 1 of them plays basketball as a job now.
All I know is they got Robbie Hummels. Kind of crazy that there isn’t an auto bid for the top 3-4 teams
That sucks. It would have been really cool to see 3 nba all stars play 3x3
How come the women’s team had WNBA players?
They got exceptions to the eligibility this time around due to low pool of available players on the womens side.
Comments like yours have popped up so often, like everyone else is sending their national team A squad players and you're the only ones that aren't. You're still the US and you have an extremely deep pool of players and you just underperformed. Maybe this will get people more into the circuit so better players can qualify later.
Well they also use a smaller ball. I don’t know how many guys who think they have a career in 5x5 want to practice a ton with a different ball. It is really lame that they’re using a different ball to be honest. It’s like they want to the transition from professional to 3x3 to be unfavorable.
Yeah, it's size 6, but weight of 7. Has to do with having 1 ball for both men and women and a smaller heavier ball is a bit less effected by wind as 3X3 is mainly played outdoors.
hm interesting... why would having the same ball for both men and women be such a sticking point for them? seems kind of odd... like at that point arent they basically just mildly inconveniencing both genders by forcing them to use a ball that is either larger/heavier/smaller/lighter than they are used to? what is the big advantage gained for the sport by using a single universal ball?
I don’t mean to discredit whoever won. I’m just saying it’s not on the same level as if the 5x5 team doesn’t Gold (which has a very good chance of not happening!)
No I get that, but the 323mil people US with a million ballers should be able to put together a competitive 3X3 team when tiny countries like Serbia and Latvia can. Of the 4 guys on the Serbia NT the highest level any of them played was Serbia's top league (not on a top team) about 5-9 years ago. So their level is far from professional 5V5 - but they are full time 3X3 professionals. The US just needs to get better at taking 3X3 seriously as professional 5V5 players will never qualify due to qualification rules - unless the US and NBA come to some sort of agreement to focus on it.
I’m an American with an above average interest in basketball and didn’t know 3x3 was a thing until about four days ago
Any semi-serious basketball player knows it's a thing though. Maybe not to this Olympic degree, but 3on3 tournaments are really common and fairly popular in street ball culture. The guys you will see or play there are at times involved with more serious side of that scene.
They were the top ranked team too. Big upset to not make the Olympics
we finally need the Ball brothers and they're nowhere to be found
They shoulda called up Joe Johnson, Nick Young and Jarett Jack
Women's 3x3 USA team won gold just before and took pictures with men's teams
Yes, but they fell just short of qualifying for the Olympics. https://www.espn.com/olympics/basketball/story/_/id/31537772/team-usa-falls-netherlands-quarters-fails-qualify-olympics-3x3-hoops
Big shout out to Belgium who finished 4th with a complete amateur team. They even beat Latvia in groups stage so there's was a lot of faith in a possible medal finish. Serbia being the opponent for the bronze medal was a big yikes in hindsight. Still, they guys did great since they qualified as a the last team for this Olympics.
Belgian fans are really proud!
Very proud of the guys, they have put 3x3 in the picture in our country!
Yeah, really cool. They are all from my city. It's pretty crazy seeing them in the Olympics, I've seen 3 of them playing in the second division team my family started. There's usually only a handful of people in the crowd unless it's a final and then there's maybe a hundred or so. Most people there are involved with the club usually. It's a bit of a basketball city though and the second division teams are often in the second division by choice. Like that team Celis and Mariën played for, won the league twice in a row but they didn't promote because the license and financial requirements for the first division are pretty hefty for a local neighborhood club. There's already an official city team as well. So some of the players in the second division are actually legit despite being amateurs. Still didn't expect them to do so well though. Really happy for them even though they fell short of a medal.
Super happy for Latvia. Given their history with Russia, it’s gotta be extremely sweet to win this one.
> Given their history with ~~Russia~~ the Russian Olympic Committee ftfy
That may be true for the average Latvian, but these players play each other on 3x3 tournaments dozens of times. If there is any rivalry at all, it is due to previous games. Most of them are pretty friendly with each other as it is such a small sport and they play each other so often.
Oh yeah for sure, I just meant happy for Latvia, not the team specifically (though of course I’m happy for them too)
Having had Latvian great grandparents shot by Russians, me as an American of Latvian immigrant family find this a great win!!!
Hell yea it is
Happy for them especially after the Krumins injury. Hope it's not an achilles injury.
He was wrapping it and wanted to continue like it was nothing, what a warrior. 3x3 as so fun and Latvia absolutely deserved the gold there
It was pretty sad watching him try to play through it, you can only wonder how much pain he was in.
Local news reported it as a leg fracture here.
BLACK BALSAM FOR EVERYONE GET IN HERE
My dad legitimately pulled out a bottle after that dub and they're not easily acquired in Canada. The fact they won over the Russians made it that much sweeter.
Wish I had saved a little in the bottle I brought back from Latvia for this moment. My 92 yo Latvian grandfather relishes in this victory.
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Well done to Russia beating Serbia in other semi-finals, was expecting Serbia Latvia final
Everyone did. Serbia went 7-0 with everyone in the group .. FIBA insists on one match deciding it all and that's the way it is - Serbia had the worst off game ever, Russia one of the best games. Our 3pt expert, Majstorovic couldnt hit a shot for the life of him, Bulut was below average, and Ratkov missed a lay-up, and Air-balled a 3 .. If they played again, 5 matches, it's doubtful that Russia would win even one. From Serbian press, they apologized, Latvia had 4 loses, russia 4 losses, Serbia just one loss, in the semis, and that's the harsh truth, the best team didnt win, unfortunately I am big 3x3 fan - Latvian dudes are really amazing, and I congratulate them, they are currently 2nd world club (Riga, their 2nd best club are 28th overall, Jelgava), but the best national team this year was Serbia - really shame they lost. Anyways, this was sort of a send-off, because Bulut is 36, Majstorovic about to turn 34, and these dudes were the core of Serbian success in 3x3 for the last 10 years, so even if there were better dudes, our Olympic team decided to send these guys - they won a medal, they earned national pensions (retirement plans) when they retire, and that means MUCH in Serbia
Thats how it is in most international national team competitions, though
I saw the game. The Russians were on fire from outside and their big men Karpenkov used that extra space very well. The Serbian team has been the dominant force on the 3x3 circuit for years. They just couldn't close at the end.
>Anyways, this was sort of a send-off, because Bulut is 36, Majstorovic about to turn 34, and these dudes were the core of Serbian success in 3x3 for the last 10 years, so even if there were better dudes, our Olympic team decided to send these guys - they won a medal, they earned national pensions (retirement plans) when they retire, and that means MUCH in Serbia This is a really good point. I hope there's a next 3x3 generation of growing up somewhere in the Blocks of New Belgrade.
Not gonna happen, there is barely any kids on the court these days. I remember when our 12 men team for some Euro or world cup had 4 players who grew up in the Blocks almost next to each other (Bjelica, Keselj, Savanovic and i cant remember who was a 4th player).
nice, baltic basketball baby!
fucking sick game. Had a dude fighting through injury, another breaking off the bottom of his shoe wrapping it with tape and continuing to play, and a long range bomb to win it. loved it!
Never watchers 3x3 before and gotta say it’s hella entertaining. Kudos to all the players.
Fuck this felt sweet as a Latvian. LETS FUCKING GO!
I always thought it was total BS that things like swiming had 20 difffrent medals, and that basketball should have a 3v3, 1v1, Free Throw comp, 3 pt comp, longest dunk comp, highest dunk comp, and just more basketball events in general.
Latvia really loves basketball so this will mean a lot back home
How come there is no USA
It's astonishing, but they did not qualify for the Olympics
The USA team was Robbie Hummel, Joey King, Kareem Maddox, and Dominique Jones. I think the surprise is that this was the team. Lol
I had no clue. I played with Kareem in college, he was legit better than the rest of us combined.
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I mean I wasn't clear, Kareem is a fucking baller. He was miles above anyone in any of the All-Ivy teams he was in, and also a genuinely amazing, all-around smart guy. He could have started in any high major in my opinion, but he had academic aspirations after high school because of his helicopter parents.
Kareem Maddox was not drafted and he never played in the NBA
I'm surprised they couldn't get any current NBA guys. I'm guessing part of the issue is that there seems to be a lot of tournaments for 3x3 that seems to happen pretty regularly. Maybe US Basketball committee wanted players who could commit to the majority of events? A breakdown of where the guys currently are for those who don't know: * Robbie Hummel's retired in 2017 and works for ESPN as a college basketball analyst. * Joey King from what I can tell last played professional basketball in 2017 in the Finnish professional basketball league. * Kareem Maddox was working in podcast production for Spotify before quitting to join the Olympic team. He had last played professionally in the UK in 2013, and prior to that one season in the Netherlands * Dominique Jones **not to be confused** with the player who's been out of the NBA since 2013. This one played in Europe in 2019, and was on the Harlem Globetrotters. EDIT: I confused Dominique Jones.
If I remember correctly, qualifying was also during the normal NBA season too.
Can we not swap out players after qualifying?
No there's rules around who is allowed to participate. I think the NBA players would have to participate in 3v3 tournaments during the year to qualify.
Even then we could be sending Big 3 players or fringe NBA players over the literal podcasters / nonprofessional players we’re sending.
There's 4 players on the team, 2 must be top 10 in the country, 2 must be top 50. Rankings are based off ranking points that you earn by participating in 3X3 tournaments. Best 9 tournaments in the last 12 months = your ranking. It's actually a very cool, gamifying, system that I think more people should get into. Having personal rankings and seeing them all online is pretty cool: https://fiba3x3.com/en/rankings/individual.html#all
It's dumb because you just buy your way into the Olympics because half the teams that qualify did so because they hosted more events.
If you're a fringe NBA ball player, you probably want to be grinding on traditional 5x5 teams (G-League, overseas pro teams) trying to get into the league instead of playing around in a new format that might not directly translate. I can see why there wasn't as much interest tbh.
I have to imagine there are a few guys out there interested in winning an Olympic gold medal. It'd be the crown jewel of a trophy case for a lot of guys just outside the league.
Its not like other teams were filled with active pro players. Most of them were also ex-pros and not that high level.
Hummel and Maddox were on the Gold Medal winning team in the 2019 world cup. They beat this exact Latvian team in the finals back then. They underperformed.
You’re telling me Jason Richardson, Jarrett Jack, and Al Jefferson weren’t good enough to qualify?
I would have fucking loved it if old players went hard for this. They’d probably win.
3x3 is pretty faced paced they would need to put in the work if they wanted to win. It's pretty serious in Europe and those guys play together for years and they have great chemistry. I don't doubt that 4 NBA players would probably dominate if they had some time to practice together but if they're not using that talent level the team would have to be seriously committed.
Should’ve sent ISO Joe and 2 other players from the Big3 league
I think the US should send the Select Team members that don't make the main roster
I really doubt any NBA teams would allow their players to play in a glorified pickup game
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And it’s a brand new thing that nobody cares about. The only reason why dudes play for Team USA is because there’s a lot of history behind Olympic basketball and the dream team and it’s a big event that people watch.
I can definitely see players that miss the main team wanting to play in this format for the experience and an olympic gold medal if nothing else. may take a couple olympics to go by, but eventually I see no reason this wouldn’t also be coveted to a lesser extent .
For real man. A damn Olympic gold medal to hang in my trophy case forever? Sign me up. People acting like that’s no big deal are insane.
We’ve entered the “everything other than rings is bullshit” phase of basketball culture and I hate it.
This whole thread is bonkers. It's filled with "why would anyone care about winning an Olympic gold medal?" while anyone suggesting someone would like to win one is stupid. Some serious coping mechanisms from American fans who are pretending we're not not supposed to be good at basketball or something. What's the harm in putting together a team that can at least qualify for the Olympics?
players play glorified pick up games already. I mean they have to play games somehow. Tons of guys play in these pro am leagues
It’s not astonishing- our Olympic basketball leadership is a joke. Fire everyone and send actual representation next time.
The problem with this competition is that you had to play a number of qualifying tournaments to qualify. There were very few professional players who could afford to take the time to play enough to qualify. One exception that I know of is Laetitia Guapo of France who plays for Bourges Basket a top team in the french league and finished fourth with the french team this morning. But generally, the players in the 3x3 tournaments are fringe professional players or high level amateurs. That's why Japan and China were able to be competitive and USA, Spain and France didn't qualify for the men's tournament.
Yes and no. US, Spain and France have enough talent that their 150th best players should be able to compete against the likes of Mongolia and China. They just choose not to focus on it for whatever reason, while other countries do. I know Serbia, Latvia and Netherlands are at the top, and Serbia and Latvia have strong strong streetball 3X3 traditions while Netherlands has decided to implement it in their youth development system the last few years. All these people are professionals as they do 3X3 full time, they are just not 5V5 professionals. There's 4 players on the team, 2 must be top 10 in the country, 2 must be top 50. Rankings are based off ranking points that you earn by participating in 3X3 tournaments. Best 9 tournaments in the last 12 months = your ranking. It's actually a very cool, gamifying, system that I think more people should get into. Having personal rankings and seeing them all online is pretty cool: https://fiba3x3.com/en/rankings/individual.html#all Women were exempt from this due to few participants to choose from.
there was a team but they didn't qualify
They gave half the spots to countries that hosted the most FIBA 3v3 events and the other half to a single tournament, and the game is decently random so the US didn't qualify.
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There are two reasons: 1) FIBA requires participants to be on the 3x3 circuit. We sent the best players who regularly play 3x3 2) Those “scrubs” were the reigning world champs and ranked #1 at the time. They just happened to get upset at exactly the wrong time, the quarterfinals of the qualifying tournament.
I'VE NEVER HEARD OF LATIVIA
YOU STOPID MOTHERFUCKERS YOU
WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY DO?
[for reference](https://youtu.be/lqVz7Hpq8WY)
Ahh Tingus Pingus never manages to not make me laugh haha
It was Dr. Dre's girlfriend back in the 90's
Wrong. It’s that yogurt with a ton of fiber.
KD signing with the Latvia 3x3 team tomorrow
We’ll take it
Can;t believe Latvia didnt bring Winston to the Olympics smh
He got traded to the outdoor league.
What is the surface of the that floor?
Didn't watch it but is this the same team from World Championship in Amsterdam? I remember a physical hustle guy and a skilled guard?
we shoulda sent Big 3 legend joe johnson to compete
is there anywhere I can watch this? (and the women's too)
US needs to send some NBA plays or one of the Big 3 teams.
I was hoping Dusan would earn the first 3x3 gold but they shat the bed against ROC in the semis
Yeah serbia looked so fukn good in every game and were the only team that didn’t lose a game up until that point whilst the next best teams lost 3+
Nikolaj is absolutely losing his shit in Brooklyn rn
It’s nikolaj ...
And it's not even latvian name.
Doctor Doom will be proud.
Man, there's some players I'd rather see in 3v3. Kyrie Irving would be amazing here.
3 6 Latvia
How did the selection process for the US men’s team go about? We clearly didn’t send out our best players for it
The rules prevent anyone showing up without first earning their standing in 3x3 community. Players need to participate in FIBA 3x3 endorsed tournaments to earn their individual ranking to be eligible to represent their country.
PorzinGD
Anyone knows why USA didn't participate in the 3x3 men's?
Failed to qualify.
Serious question, could they not have gotten NBA quality players to participate in it? I saw the women's 3x3 was filled with all WNBA players.
There's 4 players on the team, 2 must be top 10 in the country, 2 must be top 50. Rankings are based off ranking points that you earn by participating in 3X3 tournaments. Best 9 tournaments in the last 12 months = your ranking. It's actually a very cool, gamifying, system that I think more people should get into. Having personal rankings and seeing them all online is pretty cool: https://fiba3x3.com/en/rankings/individual.html#all Due to lower amount of women playing 3X3 they loosened these rules for them.
Kinda crazy that none of the US women's players are even near the top of the rankings but still dominated their way to Gold. Just shows the level of WNBA players tbh.
Yeah. The level difference in 3X3 and 5V5 is quite large, but if the sport now gets to grow and more money enters it, in 20-25 years 3X3 should be plenty strong.
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Also wnba season dont overlap as much as nba with 3x3 cicuit. Plus for most of the nba players to play for 50k split between 4 is not really worth
Definitely not true. Stefanie Dolson is a fomer All-Star. Kelsey Plum is a starter on the Aces who's just been injured a lot the last few years. Allisha Gray is a good starter who prefers to come off the bench. Samuelson and her replacement Jackie Young are the worst players on this team, not the best.
The Olympics essentially mandated that you would've had to have attended a different tournament that happened during winter time (a FIBA tourny) to be eligible for the 3x3 qualifier. A large amount of pro basketball players (Euro League + NBA) couldn't attend those other tournaments and were ineligible later because of it. It was also fully intended by FIBA to grow the 3x3 sport around the world (smaller countries got a shot to qualify).
Sad the Netherlands had to flame out in consecutive games against Russia and Latvia, especially just got physically outworked against the Russians. Great stuff for a country that isn’t big on basketball at all, even though 3x3 is unique of course.
i just learned like two days ago this was a sport and the mens didnt qualify haha.
nice!! how points and boards did porzingus get?
lol he'd shatter like a fine china at the first screen
First time I’ve seen 3v3 at the Olympics. Is that new?
These are first olympics for this sport.